Britain’s Queen Elizabeth receives flowers and cards from well-wishers during a walkabout to celebrate her 90th birthday, in Windsor, Britain April 21, 2016.
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth turns 90 on today with beacons and gun salutes heralding the birthday of the world’s oldest monarch, who still performs hundreds of engagements a year and shows no signs of losing her appetite for the job.
Question: As an American, what do you think of Britain’s queen?
He said that “Her Majesty has been steadfast – a rock of strength for our nation, for our Commonwealth and on many occasions for the whole world”.
“As a school we felt it was really important to mark the Queen’s 90th Birthday and it really has been the most fantastic day; we have held our own street party in the playground and each class has planted their own tree to mark the occasion”.
He said: “I am here to meet the Queen hopefully, I have never met her before, I have never even seen her in the flesh”.
When the Queen became the nation’s longest-reigning monarch last autumn – passing Queen Victoria’s record – she remarked that living to a ripe old age can bring many anniversaries: “Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones”.
On her 21st birthday, Queen Elizabeth II, then a princess, made a pledge to the British people.
The largest display of its kind, Fashioning a Reign gathers together a collection of her gowns, jewellery and accessories, including the outfit she wore for the historic opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
The royal family is now in a strong position due in part to the perception of the queen as separate from politics.
On being told the Royal Mail delivers over a billion parcels a year, the Queen drily noted: “I’ve probably added to that this week”.
Another shows the queen with Princess Anne, her only daughter.
Yetta Jacobs, who celebrated her 90th birthday on February 11, was evacuated to Windsor in 1939 from London’s East End. The image of the Queen, and Princes Charles, William and George will be on special stamps issued to mark Elizabeth’s life.
Last year, campaign group Republic published a report saying “each “working royal” costs the taxpayer an average of £18.5 million, making them the most expensive public officials in the country”.
Judy, 50, a civilian police worker, said: “The Queen’s just remarkable, a very formidable lady, and certainly the one we all look up to”.
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She said: “My theory was if lemon drizzle was good enough for Mary Berry, we can change it up and do one for the Queen”.
